how traffic lights & emojis can help improve student attendance ; )

Rachel Cosford

How  can  employing  nudge  theory  improve  student  a6endance?  

TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Rachel Cosford

How  can…   TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Improve  a6endance?  

EMOJI’s

& TRAFFIC

LIGHTS

Rachel Cosford

This  project  employed  ‘nudge  theory’  to  try  to  

improve  student  a6endance  rates…  

TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Rachel Cosford

TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Nudge  Theory:    

“A  field  of  behavioural  

science  that  is  used  to  

modify  people’s  behaviour  

in  a  ‘posi>ve’  way”.    

(Thaler  &  Sunstein,  2008).    

Rachel Cosford

This  project  employed  two  methods  that  incorporated  

nudge  theory:  

TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Rachel Cosford

This  project  employed  two  methods  that  incorporated  

nudge  theory:  

TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Public Register

Rachel Cosford

This  project  employed  two  methods  that  incorporated  

nudge  theory:  

TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Public Register

Attendance Emails

Rachel Cosford

Public  Register:  •  Colour-­‐coded  to  highlight  

performance  (green=  good,  amber  =  fair,  red=  poor  )  

•  Completed  in  public  view  each  class  on  the  projector  screen  

TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Rachel Cosford

Public  Register:  TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Missed  0  classes  Missed  1  class  Missed  2  classes  

Missed  3  classes  Missed  4  classes  

Missed  5  classes  

Rachel Cosford

A6endance  Emails:  •  Personalised  (addressed  

students  by  first  name)  •  Set  a  benchmark  

(highlighted  %  of  class  that  DID  a6end)  

•  Included  a  Sad  Face  emoji  

TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Rachel Cosford

A6endance  Emails:  TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Rachel Cosford

A6endance  Emails:  TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Rachel Cosford

How  did  it  go?   TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

There  were  highs  &  lows!  

Rachel Cosford

PosiSve  Points:  •  A6endance  was  up  11%  on  

the  previous  term  •  Brought  some  student  issues  

to  light    

NegaSve  Points  •  Emails  were  too  Sme  

consuming  •  Some  students  got  annoyed  

TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Rachel Cosford

Findings:  TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

76#

67#

58# 58#

44#

27#

76#

42#

69#

84#

47# 47#

0#

10#

20#

30#

40#

50#

60#

70#

80#

90#

Week#1# Week#2# Week#3# Week#4# Week#5# Week#6#

Term%2%Vs%Term%3%A+endance%(%)%

Term#2#

Term#3#

Rachel Cosford

TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

11"

26"

14"

7"

24"

8"

16"

10"

3"

11"

73"

62"

71"

43"

46"

1"

2"

3"

4"

5"

By#Week#How#Many#Students#A3ended#The#Next#Class#A:er#Recieving#a#Non#A3endance#Email#Emailed" A3endend"next" Percentage"

Rachel Cosford

TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Rachel Cosford

TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

“Because  it  allowed  you  to  compare  your  

a6endance  with  the  rest  of  the  class,  

which  made  you  want  to  have  good  

a6endance”    

“It visually showed attendance,

and showed I wasn’t as good as I

thought”

“People in the orange/red reacted and

realised how little they attended”  

“People just made a joke of it, didn’t take into account

reasons why people were absent. Took 15 minutes

out of each lecture, when we could have been

learning.”    

Rachel Cosford

TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Rachel Cosford

TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

“I  think  because  my  absence  was  noted  

instead  of  being  neglected”  

“It was irritating and had a very

accusatory tone. It was very

unsympathetic when I actually had a

serious reason for non-attendance”

“I think because it was actually noticed and

commented on, it made me make sure I was

in the next week”

Rachel Cosford

TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Rachel Cosford

TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Rachel Cosford

So  that’s  how…   TEACHING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

help  improve  a6endance!  

EMOJI’s

& TRAFFIC

LIGHTS